


Merry Christmas, Mr. Angel-Butterman

by KarliMeaghan



Category: Hot Fuzz (2007)
Genre: Babies, Children, Christmas, Christmas Decorations, Christmas Fluff, Fluff, M/M, Parenthood, Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-24
Updated: 2014-12-24
Packaged: 2018-03-03 08:07:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,797
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2844035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KarliMeaghan/pseuds/KarliMeaghan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nicholas finally lets Danny decorate the house for Christmas, much to the delight of their children. But can Nicholas survive Danny’s Christmas spirit, or will his inner Grinch threaten to ruin Christmas?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Merry Christmas, Mr. Angel-Butterman

**Author's Note:**

> This started out as a photoset that blossomed into a fanfic. Set in my Parentfuzz universe where Nicholas and Danny are married and have two children, Irene and Freddie (however, you don’t have to read my other fics to understand this one).

After working an extra-long shift at work, Nicholas was looking forward to a warm bath and a nice dinner with his family. As his car turned the corner, he couldn’t help but stare, wondering if he’d taken a wrong turn. But no, this was the right street, right address. His house, normally decorated with a wreath and a string of lights, was glowing so brightly he was sure it could be seen from space. On the front lawn stood a giant inflatable Frosty, Father Christmas, and Rudolph, colourful and smiling. Lights were strung up on both floors, as well as the garage, and there was a wreath on every window. Garland, also adorned with lights, was wrapped around the railing on the front porch, and as Nicholas pulled into the driveway, he saw a sign on a candy cane pole, planted in the snow next to the garage door; it read “NORTH POLE.”

In retrospect, Nicholas should have seen this coming.

After years and years of Danny begging Nicholas to let him do the Christmas decorating, Nicholas had finally relented the previous night. Danny had apparently started the second Nicholas left for work that morning. Nicholas supposed he should be impressed that Danny put in all this effort on his day off, but he was too busy trying to figure out how Danny had strung up the lights on the roof with only a baby and a little girl to help him.

Nicholas was barely through the front door before Irene had launched herself at his legs.

“Daddy, you’re home!” she exclaimed, beaming up at him. She was wearing a red-and-white striped Christmas hat over her blond hair, and had half of a sticky candy cane clutched in her hand. “Did you see the pretty decorations outside?”

_How could I have missed them?_

“Yes, they were beautiful, sweetheart,” Nicholas said instead, untangling his legs from her hug and hanging his coat up on the rack by the door (ignoring the big red bow tied around the rack). He bent down and scooped Irene up, kissing her on the cheek, then turned his gaze onto the living room.

The living room made the outside of the house look subtle in comparison. The tree was twice as big as the usual plastic one they reused every year, and had three times as many ornaments hanging from its branches, along with tinsel and, of course, more lights (Nicholas shuddered to think how high their next electricity bill would be). There was a large wreath hung up over the mantle, and the stockings were indeed hung by the chimney with care. The couch had a large blanket on it decorated with snowflakes, and every table had a candle or a Christmas figure or a snow globe decorating it. The bannister leading up to the second floor was wrapped with tinsel and red streamers, and there was a sprig of mistletoe hung up above the landing. A small toy train set was running in circles around the bottom of the tree, and a stuffed elf was sitting on the TV, grinning and holding the remote.

Nicholas couldn’t help but do a triple-take as he took in all the changes to their home.

“Do you like it?” Irene asked, smiling proudly.

Nicholas opened his mouth, then closed it, then opened it again.

“It’s…certainly a lot to take in. Did you help Papa set this up?”

Irene nodded, then added, “Auntie Doris and Uncle Tony helped. ‘Specially with the lights and the ladder.”

_Well that explains how Danny got so much done._

At the mention of her name, Doris stuck her head out from the other side of the tree.

“Hello, Nicholas, didn’t hear you come in,” she said by way of greeting. “Just finishing up this side of the tree. Irene’s been a  _big_ help.”

“Yes, I’m sure she was,” Nicholas replied, choosing every sentence carefully. He didn’t want to upset his daughter by letting on how he really felt about the setup. “Where’s Danny?”

“Oh, he went out to pick up more lights.”

_Oh God._

“Tony’s here too, he’s in the kitchen with Freddie.”

Doris held out a hand to Irene.

“C’mon, little elf, we’ve got more tree to decorate.”

Nicholas set Irene down and the little girl eagerly ran over to her godmother. Nicholas closed his eyes and took a few deep, calming breaths, before heading into the kitchen. He would have to talk to Danny when his husband got home.

The kitchen was, thankfully, less adorned than the living room, though there was still a bow on every cupboard door, and a wreath tacked on the fridge. Freddie was sitting in his high chair, playing with blocks, while Tony was a pulling something out of the oven. The kitchen counter was already covered in three tins of Christmas biscuits, with another batch cooling on a tray. The biscuits looked like the kind Danny made each year, though he typically only made one batch, using his mother’s recipe. They were in the shapes of reindeer, snowmen, bells, trees, gingerbread people, stars, and stockings, and almost all had been decorated with icing, with varying degrees of success. The biscuits in one tin were all shaped like gingerbread people, and iced to resemble police officers (and two detectives with prominent icing mustaches).

Tony turned around, holding yet another tray of freshly-baked biscuits, and he nearly dropped them when he noticed Nicholas standing on the doorway. Nicholas quickly went over and steadied Tony, before taking the tray and setting it on the only free spot on the counter.

“Ah, Nicholas, glad you’re here,” Tony said, pushing his glasses up, then wiping his hands on his apron (which was designed to look like the front of a snowman, and read “DANNY” across the top). “I wasn’t sure which of these biscuits are for eating, which are for giving out as gifts, which are for bringing into work. Also, do you know when Danny wants the mince pie cooked for Father Christmas?”

Nicholas balked.

“Father Christmas?” he asked, looking blankly at Tony.

“Yes, you know, for Irene to leave out on Christmas Eve,” Tony replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world (which, Nicholas supposed, it was, just not to him). “With the sherry and the note, as you do.”

“Um…you’d have to ask Danny. He hasn’t told me anything about this.”

_That’s an understatement._

“Okay then, he should be back shortly,” Tony replied. “In the meantime, would you like to try icing a cookie? We’re out of red and white and green and blue, but we’ve got some yellow, and a lot of brown.”

Once again, Nicholas found himself at a loss for words (though he was relieved Danny didn’t expect them to eat all these biscuits themselves). Luckily Freddie chose that moment to start fussing, holding his hands out to Nicholas. Freddie, like his sister, was wearing a red and white striped hat. Nicholas picked up the baby, and pretended to adjust Freddie’s hat while trying to think of how to handle this situation.

Before Danny, Nicholas had much more subdued holidays. He would get a small plastic tree, maybe hang a wreath on his door, nothing flashy. He’d spend the day with Janine or his mother, or head into work if he had paperwork that needed filing; he enjoyed how quiet the office was during the holiday. Nicholas was used to quiet Christmases, and though he’d adjusted his idea of what Christmas could be since meeting Danny and having the kids, this was too much. It was gaudy and over-the-top and would take forever to take down once the holidays were over. Christmas was in five days anyway, what was the point of going to all this extravagance if it would only be gone in a week?

Maybe they could take down a few of the lights and wreaths tonight, while the kids slept. They probably wouldn’t even notice, and it would make the eventual clean up a bit easier…

Irene ran into the kitchen, holding something behind her back and looking decidedly impish. She tugged on Nicholas’ trouser leg, so he stopped fiddling with Freddie’s hat and looked down at her.

“What have you got there, Irene?”

“It’s from Papa,” she said, almost jumping up and down in excitement. She whipped the object out from behind her back and held it up to him. “You hafta wear this!”

Balancing Freddie on his hip, Nicholas took the object from Irene’s outstretched hands. It was a hat, but not the kind his children were wearing. It was red and green, with a bell on the end, and…Nicholas squinted…

“What are these –”

“They’re ELF EARS!” Irene exclaimed, clapping her hands. “You hafta wear the hat, Daddy, it’s for Christmas!”

Nicholas was about to decline the offer – the demand, really – until he saw Irene’s face. Nicholas had stared down thieves, murderers, and all other types of criminals without even breaking a sweat, but the hint of a pout from his young daughter was enough to do him in. He reluctantly, and with some difficulty given one hand was holding Freddie, tugged the hat onto his head, lining up the ears so they fit over his own. Irene squealed with laughter, then ran out of the room, shouting “Auntie Doris, he’s wearing it!”

Before Nicholas could say or do anything (it had been that kind of night, where he was constantly encountering something new before having time to react to his previous encounter), the front door burst open. Part of Nicholas went into cop-mode, certain the brightly-lit house had appeared as a beacon to some would-be thieves (“If they have that much to spend on Christmas tat, they must be  _loaded!_ ”); he was ready to hand Freddie off to Tony and reach for the nearest heavy object to use as a weapon (in this case, it would have to be a cookie jar in the shape of an angel). Then the other part of Nicholas actually looked at who was coming through the door. It was Danny.

Or rather, to Nicholas, Doris, and Tony, it was Danny.

To Irene and Freddie, it was Father Christmas.

Danny had gone all out, which at this point shouldn’t have surprised Nicholas, but it did. He had the boots, the trousers, the coat, the hat, the gloves, and even the beard, which looked remarkably real. He was wearing a small pair of glasses, and had a red sack slung over his back. Freddie was staring at Danny with his mouth agape, while Irene was staring at him with a mixture of awe and delight. For a moment, Danny stood there, letting them all take him in. Then he bellowed out in a loud, un-Danny-like voice, “Ho ho ho! Are there any children here?”

Irene squealed and ran to Danny, waving her arms above her head to get his attention.

“Me, I am!”

Danny beamed down at Irene.

“Ah, of course,” he said cheerfully, bending down so that he was eye-to-eye with his daughter. “You must be Irene.”

Irene gasped, then nodded. Danny turned his head and looked at Nicholas and the baby.

“Which means this would be your dad, Nicholas, and your new brother, Freddie.”

Irene nodded again.

“I hope your dad doesn’t mind me stopping by with some early Christmas presents.”

Irene turned to Nicholas, giving him her most pleading, desperate look, mouthing “pleasepleaseplease” and clasping her hands in front of her. For once, Nicholas didn’t need his daughter to sway him; he smiled at Danny and nodded.

“Of course I don’t mind,” he replied. Danny let out another chuckle, then opened his sack up. As Danny handed out gifts to the kids (Irene got a Disney movie, Freddie got a stuffed octopus), as well as the adults (Doris got a necklace of lights that blinked when she turned them on, Tony got a set of pens that played “Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer”), all of Nicholas’ doubts and misgivings faded away. The look on his children’s faces was enough for him to realize all this blitz and gaudiness was worth it. Danny hadn’t done all this just because he loved Christmas or wanted to show off; he’d done it give his children (and maybe even his husband) something fun and magical for the holiday season. When the children weren’t looking, Nicholas mouthed “you’re amazing” at Danny, who blushed.

***

After the gifts were handed out, and Irene had given Father Christmas her Christmas list, Danny slung the empty bag on his back.

“Unfortunately I have to return home now. I’m not even supposed to be out dressed like this until Christmas Eve, the elves will be very upset with me,” he said, winking at Irene. “You keep being a good girl, and mind your parents, alright?”

Irene frowned.

“But Papa’s not home yet!” she said. “You gotta meet him!”

Before Nicholas could say anything, Danny held up a hand.

“Don’t worry, I passed by Danny on my way to visit you, and we had a nice chat about what a wonderful family he has, and how lucky he is to have such good friends,” Danny told her, smiling at Doris and Tony. He turned to his kids and added, “He wanted me to visit as soon as possible, so you two wouldn’t be in bed by the time I came around. Of course, all children have to be asleep when I visit on Christmas Eve.”

“We will, promise,” Irene said, nodding earnestly as though making a solemn vow. “Well,  _I_  will be; Freddie’s always crying at night ‘cause he’s a baby.”

“Luckily I make exceptions for babies,” Danny told her, booping Freddie on the nose as he did so. Freddie giggled and tried to grab Danny’s finger, before returning to the serious business of chewing on an octopus tentacle.

With a final wave, and a wink at Nicholas, Danny headed out the door. Irene wanted to watch him fly away in his sleigh, but Danny turned and headed around the house instead.

“Ooo, his sleigh must be on the roof,” Doris commented knowledgably.

“Daddy, can we go on the –”

“No.”

“Aww,” Irene pouted. The she gasped and her eyes went wide. “We should’ve given him Christmas biscuits!”

“He’ll be back, darling, he can have some in a few days,” Doris told her.

“But they’re all warm and chewy now! They’re best when they’re warm and chewy!” Irene insisted.

This gave Nicholas an idea.

“Tell you what, I’ll grab a few and take them outside, see if he’s still on the roof. Maybe I can flag him down.”

*** 

A minute later, Nicholas was outside holding a plate of warm Christmas biscuits. He should’ve felt silly, but he was too overcome with feelings…holiday feelings, he supposed, and definitely feelings of love and pride in Danny…to worry about himself. He headed down the stairs and around the side of the house, but rather than heading to the roof, he opened the side door into the garage. As he suspected, Danny was inside, removing the last vestiges of Father Christmas apparel. He had everything but his beard and hat off, dressed in the clothes he’d been wearing that morning; he even had a bag a Christmas lights beside him.

“Would Father Christmas like some biscuits?” Nicholas asked. Danny jumped, then rolled his eyes.

“Cor, Nicky, you scared me,” he admonished. “Thought you were Irene, and I’d end up ruinin’ Christmas for her.”

Nicholas grinned, shutting and locking the door behind him, before making his way across the garage to Danny.

“You did the exact opposite,” he replied, setting the biscuits down on the worktable. “I think you’ve made Christmas her favourite time of year.”

Danny blushed again, taking off his fake glasses.

“Aw, just something I thought she’d enjoy,” he replied. “Wanted to do this the last few Christmases, but she was too young. I’d just be the big scary stranger breakin’ into her house. Glad Freddie didn’t cry.”

“It wasn’t just the dressing up, Danny, it was everything.”

Danny smiled, then fiddled with his wedding ring, a habit he’d developed since their wedding.

“Wasn’t too much?”

Nicholas grinned.

“Oh, it was definitely too much.” Danny looked up, frowning. “But it was exactly the right amount of too much.”

Danny furrowed his brow.

“That doesn’t make sense, Nicky,” he said, though he looked relieved.

“I know.”

“Oh, I just realized, Father Christmas didn’t give you a present!”

“Danny, you are Father Christmas, and you gave me the best present of all.”

Nicholas reached out and pulled Danny’s beard down, then leaned in and gave him a long, slow kiss.

“Merry Christmas, Danny.”

“Merry Christmas, Nicholas.” A pause. “You look ridiculous in that hat.”  
  


_**The End** _

_**** _


End file.
